Waiting Room

These works were made in waiting rooms of one kind or another. Densely hand-stitched abstract forms centered on raw linen, they are shaped by a desire to develop a new visual language and to forge a new working methodology—peripatetic, roving, claiming its own time and space.

By drawing colored sewing thread through cloth, a form emerges, a plan begins to materialize. Each work builds incrementally through the repetition of stitches made with thin thread. The stitches are tiny—they test the limits of my eyesight.

Shape, color, density, pattern, rhythm—these decisions are determined by an urge to distill and integrate a variety of influences, information, ideas: how textiles carry meaning; the work of artists such as Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Agnes Martin; the practice of Tantric painting; the growth patterns of organic forms, both in the body and in nature; the visual structure of a text; images generated for diagnostic testing; how our senses, emotions, and intellect intersect; the sensation of reading.

The act of making small stitches repeatedly, following the regular yet imperfect structure of woven cloth, is at once meditative and obsessive—it requires and reveals different kinds of attention. This work activates waiting. This work records the labor of being (a) patient. This work is made of time and representative of it.

photography: Evan La Londe

Recording, April/May, 2015

Thread, linen14 1/4 x 16 1/2 in. (image area 6 3/8 x 4 1/2 in.)

Recording, March (no. 1), 2018 (detail)

Thread, linen13 1/2 x 16 3/4 in. (image area 3 x 3 in.)

Recording, June (no. 2) 2015

Thread, linen14 x 16 in. (image area 4 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.)

Recording, June (no. 3), 2015

Thread, linen14 1/4 x 15 3/4 in. (image area 3 3/4 x 3 5/8 in.)

Recording, June (no. 4), 2015

Thread, linen13 3/4 x 16 in. (image area 3 x 3 in.)

Recording, February (no. 1), 2016

Thread, linen14 x 16 1/2 in. (image area 2 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.)

Recording, April/May/June/July, 2016

Thread, linen14 1/4 x 16 1/4 in. (image area 5 x 4 in.)

Recording, April/May/June/July, 2016 (detail)

Thread, linen14 1/4 x 16 1/4 in. (image area 5 x 4 in.)

Recording, March (no. 1), 2016

Thread, linen14 x 16 in. (image area 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.)

Recording, January, 2017

Thread, linen14 3/4 x 16 3/4 in. (image area 3 1/2 x 4 in.)

Recording, January (no. 1), 2016 (detail)

Thread, linen14 1/2 x 16 1/4 in. (image area 2 3/4 x 2 7/8 in.)

Recording, February, 2018

Thread, linen14 1/2 x 16 in. (image area 3 x 3 in.)

Cord Work

2011-present

The Mediums are sculptural wall drawings that change in overall shape and specific line arrangement with each installation. Each drawing is composed on-site from ink-soaked cords that have been dried into curled, coiled, or loosely tangled shapes. As the ink dries, it rigidifies the cord, allowing for increased dimensionality when the cords are suspended from vertical surfaces.

Reservoir

Taking the idea of a deep, often unseen or unnamed source as point of departure, the exhibition included weavings, drawings, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramic work. The word reservoir evokes the idea of a place that holds what we value, need, and want to protect—a back-up store of energy, that, if well-tended, might serve as a lasting life source. The works in this exhibition form a kind of materials-based-conversation between Eastman and Watkins, drawing upon influences such as the work of Anni Albers, Agnes Martin, Tantric Painting, and Gee’s Bend Quilts.

Circuit, Portal, Hum

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 50 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Lightning, Margin, Drift

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 50 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Occurrence

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 25 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Arrival and Departure

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 25 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Apparition

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 25 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Twin

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 25 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Stillness

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 25 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Newness

2016Ink, dye, Kozo paper38 x 25 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

like anything

2016Transfer paper10 x 12.75 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

it's not like anything

2016Transfer, Gampi paper10 x 12.75 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

it just is

2016Transfer, Gampi paper10 x 12.75 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

not like anything

2016Transfer, Gampi paper10 x 12.75 in.

photo: Evan La Londe

Seeing Things

Each work in the series begins with a gesture – an effort to mark the center of a field. Over time, this repeated action accrues as a meditation on variation seen through the differences captured in the movement of pigment through liquid, fiber and time.

photography: Evan La Londe

Seeing Things (no. 4)

2015ink and linen14 5/8 x 18 3/8 in.

Seeing Things (no. 30)

2015ink and linen14 5/8 x 16 1/2 in.

Seeing Things (no. 7)

2015ink and linen14 3/8 x 16 3/4 in.

Seeing Things (no. 26)

2015ink and linen14 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.

Seeing Things

Installation view at PDX Contemporary Art

Surfacing

2008-present

A series of works made by pouring ink on paper and manipulating the paper without tools. I use a variety of drawing and calligraphy inks that range in texture and appearance, from matte and mottled to smooth and shiny. Surfacing began in 2008 with five drawings and continues into the present and the future. The drawings have been installed in various eccentric grid formations, the sequences selected and arranged in response to the unique architectural characteristics (light, space, approach, sight lines) of each exhibition space.

photography: Dan Kvitka

Surfacing 12

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 15

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 23

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 27

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 28

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 41

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 45

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 50

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 55

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 56

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 58

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 63

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Surfacing 79

Pigment- and dye-based ink on paper22 x 30 in.

Text Work

Likenesses (at sea), 2010

Carbon tissue20 x 24 3/4

photo: Dan Kvitka

Once, 2012

(diptych)Graphite transfer paper18 x 30 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

Once, 2012

(diptych)Graphite transfer paper18 x 30 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

this is the one, 2015

carbon transfer on gampi paper10 1/2" 14 1/2"

photo: Evan La Londe

Likenesses (adrift), 2010

Graphite transfer paper32 x 26 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

Likenesses (in a fog)

graphite transfer paper22" x 11.75"

photo: Dan Kvitka

this is the one, 2015

carbon transfer on gampi paper10 1/2" 13 3/4"

photo: Evan La Londe

Transmission and Residual States

2013

These interrelated works were made by resting wet, ink-soaked cords atop and between layers of Kozo-shi paper and wet-media drafting film. As the cords slowly dried over numerous days, wicking the ink’s moisture, I exchanged the ink-soaked surfaces for untouched ones, sometimes transferring residual ink between the various pristine and marked sheets, and sometimes allowing cords to dry completely before relocating them.

photos by Dan Kvitka

Transmission State 05.01.13

Ink, Kozo-shi paper37x25 in.

Residual State Undated

Ink, drafting film37 x 25 in.

Residual State 04.18.13

Ink, drafting film37 x 25 in.

Transmission State 02.13

Ink, Kozo-shi paper37 x 25 in.

Residual State 05.01.13

Ink, drafting film37 x 25 in.

Transmission State 02.13

Ink, Kozo-shi paper37 x 25 in.

Transmission State 03.13

Ink, Kozo-shi paper37 x 25 in.

Transmission State 03.27.13

Ink, Kozo-shi paper37 x 25 in.

Transmission State 04.18.13

Ink, Kozo-shi paper37 x 25 in.

Residual State 05.01.13

Ink, drafting film37 x 25 in.

Transmission State 05.01.13

Ink, Kozo-shi paper37 x 25 in.

Fugitives and Agents

Interrelated sculptural and linen works, formed by repeated processes of saturation, compression, and drying. The ink-soaked cord is both drawing implement—transferring the ink to surfaces laid beneath or over it—and independent object.

photography: Evan La Londe

Fugitive 4

2015ink and linen28" x 23"

Fugitive 2

2015ink and linen28" x 23"

Fugitive 6

2015ink and linen28" x 23"

Fugitive 7

2015ink and linen28" x 23"

Agent (No. 1)

2015ink, cotton cord and wood9 1/2" x 14" x 15"

Agent (No. 2 and 3)

2015ink, cotton cord and wood8" x 22" x 15 1/2"

Ink Flow Drawings

Drawings made by pouring ink on paper and manipulating the paper without tools. A variety of drawing and calligraphy inks are used across several series, ranging in texture and appearance, from matte to mottled to smooth and shiny.

Momentum IV

2007vermillion sumi ink, paper34 1/4" x 26 3/4"

Monument III

2007vermillion sumi ink, paper34 1/4" x 26 3/4"

Stone Mystic 17

2012ink on paper30" x 22 1/2"

Stone Mystic 20

2012ink on paper30" x 22 1/2"

Stone Mystic 28

2012ink on paper30" x 22 1/2"

Stone Mystic 34

2012ink on paper30" x 22 1/2"

Stone Mystic 46

2012ink on paper30" x 22 1/2"

Stone Mystic 48

2012ink on paper30" x 22 1/2"

Ag 5

2009silver ink on gampi paper20 1/2" x 17"

Ag 3

2009silver ink on gampi paper20 1/2" x 17"

Score

2014

Score was commissioned for the north atrium of the Lincoln Performance Hall at Portland State University. The work is made of more than five hundred yards of wide-gauge cotton cord, which has been saturated with India ink, then shaped to create sequences of fluid yet arresting forms. Score traverses the exterior wall of the auditorium, wrapping the performance space. The work is secured to the wall by means of mild steel rods anchored to the masonry at approximately 150 points. The movement of the line and its arcing and twisting energy derive from the qualities of the cord when soaked and dried. I manipulated the cord to achieve the greatest degree of dimensionality and fluidity, propping the cord on the mounts so that the curves and coils of the material stand as visual and kinetic evidence of the process that has shaped them.

Transcripts and Readings

2013-2014

The transfer processes at the core of Transmission States and Residual States were the result of a new working methodology that allowed me to create sculptures and drawings simultaneously. By arranging and rearranging soaked cords on long rolls of Japanese paper, the paper absorbed – and then transferred – the various positions of the cords. I titled these paper-based works Transcripts and Readings, not only because they document the making of the sculptures that interact with them, but also because they interpret and “read” the sculptures as they form. The Transcripts are formed underneath the cords, and the Readings are made by overlaying the inked cords with thinner sheets of paper.

In producing the wall-mounted sculptural drawing Score, I produced both a Transcript and a Reading for each of the fifteen cord sculptures I made for the installation.

Reading #4

2013Ink, mulberry paper280 x 38 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

Reading #5

2013Ink, mulberry paper280 x 38 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

Reading #7

2013Ink, mulberry paper280 x 37 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

Reading #10

2013Ink, mulberry paper280 x 37 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

Transcripts and Reading Installation View

2013

photo: Dan Kvitka

studio view of work in progress

Transcripts and Readings Installation View

Left: Transcript #5, Reading #5

Right: Transcript #4, Reading #4

2013Ink, mulberry paper280 X 38 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

studio shot

Studio view of Score, Transcripts, and Readings in process

photo: Abigail McNamara

Transcript #7, Reading #7

2013Ink, mulberry paper280 X 38 in.

photo: Dan Kvitka

Thread Drawings

2002-present

My practice of drawing with thread by sewing through translucent paper began with an interrelated pair of works: Laps(e) (2002) and Over and Over (2002). Laps(e) consisted of approximately one-inch-long running stitches traversing a fifteen-foot length of vellum thirty three and one-half times, representing my age. The ends of the threads were left to hang from the horizontally suspended sheet, marking the beginning and end of each sewing act. Subsequent thread-based drawing projects have become more sculptural, but retain a similar motivation to mark time by setting or layering movable lines through and along translucent surfaces – isolating, fusing, and freeing the material, over and over, and out and back.

photography: Dan Kvitka

Gradual Instant

This body of work began as a group of material experiments with paper and ink, linking ideas and processes of absorption and saturation. My initial studies –wild-edged silhouettes that seemed to extrude the paper's fibers – led to more extensive experimentation, more irruptive imagery, and a desire to arrange the permeated and dessicated surfaces in groupings on the wall.

These works have been presented in site-responsive wall installations. When assembled together, horizon, depth, and other visual-spatial cues emerge, but the illusion of a coherent landscape quickly gives way to a more abstract and fragmentary presentation. I have come to understand this methodology less as a gesture resulting in a representation, and more as a sequence of small-scale, recurrent enactments of physical and psychic phenomena. As if what happens within the paper happens everywhere, and always has.